CHATSWORTH

NORTH FRONT LODGES

NEW BOLLARDS

HERITAGE STATEMENT

Inskip Gee Architects 19 - 23 White Lion Street LONDON N1 9PD

December 2019 In 1725 George Vertue described the approach to the house as “terrible” and the avenue as “very unpleasant.” The winter of 1755-56 brought torrential rains and the swelling of the River Derwent to an unprecedented level. The medieval five-arch bridge integrating the mill weir and the mill were significantly damaged, as were the reservoirs for the waterworks on the moor, and the parterre garden below. The scale of flood damage presented an opportunity to redesign the landscape relating to the West Front extending north and south. Work began in 1757. A new line for the principal drive was struck, crossing the river further upstream, building a new weir, a separate structure from the bridge and relocating the mill further down stream. The 4th Duke then widened the river and straightened its course as a flood mitigation measure, which in turn initiated Paine’s new bridge that was completed in 1762.

Soon after succeeding to the title in 1755, the 4th Duke engaged James Paine as architect and Lancelot Brown as landscape designer and demolished numerous obstructive buildings - the old bridge and mill, Talman’s Offices and Stables, the birdhouses, the bridge over the central canal, the palisade on the lower side of the Forecourt, and the fountains, gazebos and summer-houses on the smaller ponds. The West Entrance Court was also dismantled and park brought right up to the house, however, he retained Cibber’s sphinxes and martial trophies in their original locations but as freestanding objects in the park. This major clearance paved the way for the transference of the main entrance from the West Front to the North Front, in parallel with the construction of a new rusticated arched gateway and entrance court.

Between 1756-60 Paine’s New Offices were constructed on the site of the birdhouses and yard comprising a long low wing of three pavilions separated by courts from the north-east corner to contain the kitchen, offices and some stabling, with a high boundary wall concealing the new offices and Office Court. The approach to this directly from the north was heralded by a small triumphal arch (the present East Lodge). Paine also designed extensive stables at some distance on higher ground to the north east of the house, replacing those originally built by Talman immediately north of the West Forecourt. Paine’s book dates the New Stables to 1758 - 63.

Paine’s New Offices facilitated the relocation of the kitchen from the current North Hall, and its subsequent remodelling by Paine, but later rebuilt by Wyatville though salvaging Paine’s chimneypieces. The concept for demolition of so many buildings was so that the view both of the house and from the house was left uncluttered and unobstructed to the visitor. Lancelot Brown was engaged to work with regrading and reforming the landscape. The canals along the river were filled and the view up the river was opened up giving greater emphasis to the natural landscape.

The contribution to the architecture and landscape made by the 4th Duke are of high significance. As part of the North Wing of Chatsworth built by the 6th Duke in the 1820s, Wyatville formed a north forecourt with an imposing new entrance with a triple gateway that reflected the hierarchical disposition of a grand Regency country house. The principal columnar triumphal Tuscan arch with flanking lodges formed the main entrance to the North Front of the house. The new rusticated west gateway mirrored Paine’s eastern gateway became a more private entrance to the West Front that was centred on the iron gates to The Duke’s Terrace. Paine’s ‘Old Lodge’ was relegated as the servants’ entrance into the new Office Court.

Work began in 1820. Paine’s Offices, the pavilion nearest the 1st Duke’s house, were swiftly demolished, while the kitchen pavilion was partly dismantled. Paine’s four great hearths and the chimneypieces were integrated into Wyatville’s new kitchen, two of which remain and the other two demolished in c.1910 and c.1980.

Modification of Wyatville’s 1820 scheme followed with the addition of the Temple or Belvedere in early 1824 as the Banqueting Apartment and laundry, then the Orangery in late 1826, the Bath House in 1827 and finally the Dairy in 1829. It took a further eight years to complete the interiors before the 6th Duke turned his attention to the refitting of the 1st Duke’s house.

The contribution to the architecture and landscape made by the 6th Duke are of high significance.